Photo Flash: First Look at Punk Rock Drama SIDSeptember 20, 2016Leon Fleming's punk-rock one-man play about hero worship transfers into London's West End after a UK tour, starring Dario Coates (Coronation Street, ITV; Another Country, Chichester Festival Theatre & Trafalgar Studios West End) and directed by Scott Le Crass (Cancel the Sunshine, The Hope Theatre). The show has its press night tonight, and runs until 8 October.
Sheridan Smith To Reprise Fanny Brice On UK Tour of FUNNY GIRLSeptember 20, 2016Following critically acclaimed and record-breaking sold-out runs at the Menier Chocolate Factory and Savoy Theatre, Sheridan Smith will reprise her highly praised performance of Fanny Brice at selected venues for the UK tour of Funny Girl - she is set to perform in Manchester, Milton Keynes, Liverpool, Bristol, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Newcastle, Southampton, Bradford, Southend, Cardiff and Dublin. Further casting will be announced shortly, and patrons should check with venues for the performance playing schedule.
BWW Interview: Oliver Savile On Playing Fiyero During The 10th Anniversary Of WICKEDSeptember 20, 2016Musical theatre actor Oliver Savile performed in tours of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Cats and Mamma Mia!, before joining the West End cast of Wicked in 2015. He's currently playing Fiyero as part of the 10th anniversary cast, which features Rachel Tucker, Suzie Mathers, Anita Dobson and Mark Curry.
Starry Alumni, Sharp Satire and Hope For The Future In National Youth Theatre 60th CelebrationsSeptember 19, 2016Sixty years young, last night the National Youth Theatre celebrated its storied past, buoyant present and - with a heartfelt plea for more financial support - essential future in a star-studded diamond gala at Shaftesbury Theatre. Those NYT participants who joined the company in this glittering anniversary year really lucked out, noted my companion, but it was hard to find a dull moment in decades of pioneering, diverse and life-changing work, as illustrated by this affectionate revue.
BWW Interview: Actress Hope Davis On Thrillers, Escaping To London and David Hare's THE RED BARNSeptember 19, 2016Acclaimed American actress Hope Davis has starred in numerous independent films and TV dramas, from About Schmidt and American Splendour to In Treatment, The Special Relationship and Wayward Pines. She received a Tony Award nomination for her performance in the original Broadway production of God of Carnage, and next month she returns to the stage in David Hare's new play The Red Barn at the National Theatre, directed by Robert Icke.
BWW Interview: Hayley Tamaddon On Playing Roxie In CHICAGOSeptember 15, 2016Actress Hayley Tamaddon's numerous screen and stage credits include Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Spamalot and The Rocky Horror Show. She's currently starring as jazz-hot murderess Roxie Hart in the UK touring production of Kander and Ebb's Chicago, alongside John Partridge, Sophie Carmen-Jones and Jessie Wallace.
BWW Interview: Actress Gina Beck Teases WEST END BARESSeptember 16, 2016This is the seventh outing for hotly anticipated annual burlesque show West End Bares, inspired by the Jerry Mitchell-founded Broadway Bares. Leading West End performers come together to entertain - and get their kit off - in order to raise money for The Make A Difference Trust, which works towards a world free from HIV and AIDS.
Photo Flash: KEEP DANCING Opens at New Wimbledon TheatreSeptember 14, 2016Brand new stage show KEEP DANCING, which celebrates the ever popular world of Ballroom and Latin dance, opened last night at New Wimbledon Theatre, with special guests Jay McGuiness and Aliona Vilani. Other Strictly stars appearing on the UK-wide tour include Lisa Riley, Chelsee Healey and Louis Smith, joining Robin Windsor, Anya Garnis, other professional dancers from Strictly Come Dancing, and world-champion Ballroom and Latin Dancers.
BWW Review: TORN, Royal Court Theatre, 13 September 2016September 14, 2016Family is the ideal, the necessity, the burden and the war zone of Nathaniel Martello-White's intricate new piece, alternately elusive and confrontational. It's group therapy - Ultz provides the community hall plastic chairs and tea table - with no safeguards, where familial secrets are not just teased out but wrenched, kicking and screaming, to the surface.
LET THERE BE LIGHT: Paule Constable On Risks, Sexism and Having OpinionsSeptember 13, 2016The latest instalment in our series showcasing Britain's best lighting designers focuses on the four-time Olivier and two-time Tony Award winner Paule Constable. She's worked on numerous landmark theatrical productions, including The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, War Horse and Waves at the National Theatre and the RSC's Wolf Hall, as well as with leading opera and dance companies.
BWW Interview: Scott Graham and Geordie Brookman on THINGS I KNOW TO BE TRUESeptember 12, 2016Andrew Bovell's Things I Know To Be True, a Frantic Assembly and State Theatre Company of South Australia co-production, opened earlier this year in Adelaide and is now playing at London's Lyric Hammersmith, led by Imogen Stubbs. Scott Graham, co-founder of Frantic Assembly, and Geordie Brookman, artistic director of State Theatre Company, discuss collaborating on this unique project.
Photo Flash: In Rehearsal with TRAVESTIESSeptember 12, 2016Patrick Marber directs Tom Hollander as he returns to the stage to play Henry Carr in the Menier Chocolate Factory's revival of Tom Stoppard's TRAVESTIES. The production opens on 4 October, with previews from 22 September and runs until 19 November.
Sandi Toksvig's SILVER LINING and NELL GWYNN in English Touring Theatre Spring SeasonSeptember 12, 2016English Touring Theatre today announces its spring season which features the world premiere of Silver Lining, a new comedy written by Sandi Toksvig, and a tour of the critically acclaimed Olivier Award winning Shakespeare's Globe production of Nell Gwynn, starring Laura Pitt-Pulford in the title role. It is the final season under the stewardship of Director Rachel Tackley who is leaving the company to become Executive Director of Chichester Festival Theatre. Richard Tywman takes over, having been Associate Director (International) of the Royal Court Theatre since 2013.
BWW Interview: Brian Lobel On A PACIFIST'S GUIDE TO THE WAR ON CANCERSeptember 12, 2016Performance artist Brian Lobel has spent 12 years creating innovative work out of difficult personal experiences and tough topics. He's now joined forces with Bryony Kimmings and Complicite to create the highly anticipated new musical A Pacifist's Guide to the War on Cancer, which premieres at Manchester's HOME on 20 September, then plays Exeter Northcott and the National Theatre.
BWW Review: LABYRINTH, Hampstead Theatre, 9 September 2016September 10, 2016Beth Steel, who scored at hit at the Hampstead in 2014 with a play about the 1980s miners' strike, has dipped back into history to create one with sickening relevance to the current financial crisis. It's 1978, and Wall Street is packed with cowboys gleefully eyeing up their new frontier: Latin America.
Katherine Parkinson, Steve Pemberton and Ralf Little Lead DEAD FUNNY Revival at Vaudeville TheatreSeptember 9, 2016Terry Johnson's "Painfully funny and funnily painful" (The Times) comedy, DEAD FUNNY, returns for a strictly limited season at the Vaudeville Theatre this autumn with Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd, In The Club, Humans), Steve Pemberton (The League of Gentleman, Benidorm, Whitechapel), Ralf Little (The Royle Family, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, The Cafe), Emily Berrington (The Inbetweeners 2, Humans, 24) and Rufus Jones (W1A, Hunderby, The Casual Vacancy).
BWW Review: THE EMPEROR, Young Vic, 8 September 2016September 9, 2016In 1974, renowned Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski travelled to Ethiopia to chart the downfall of Emperor Haile Selassie, 'King of Kings, elect of God', through interviews with his loyal servants and associates. Kapuscinski's 1978 book has been adapted by Colin Teevan into an extraordinary showcase for the talents of quicksilver quick-change artist Kathryn Hunter, who transforms into a dozen different characters with the aid of nothing more than a cane, hat or set of epaulettes.
Duncan Macmillan and 59 Productions Adapt Paul Auster's CITY OF GLASS, Premiering March 2017September 8, 2016CITY OF GLASS, the first part of Paul Auster's landmark three-part novel, The New York Trilogy, will be brought vividly to life in spring 2017 in a dazzlingly original stage adaptation by Tony Award-winning 59 Productions (An American in Paris, War Horse, David Bowie Is) and Olivier Award-nominated playwright Duncan Macmillan (People, Places and Things, 1984). The production premieres at Manchester's HOME in March and then plays London's Lyric Hammersmith from April. It's one of two major theatre commissions for HOME's new season, the other being David Watson's version of Ibsen's GHOSTS, directed by Polly Findlay.